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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. tube — a container
  3. drill — the tool
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. drill — army training
  6. capital — money
  7. kid — to tease
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. drill — a practice
  10. tube — the underground
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. rush — hurry
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. kid — child
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. bark — to shout
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. capital — a city

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com